By Mikal E. Belicove|For Entrepreneur magazine|November 1, 2010

Suppose you’re sitting at Starbucks with your corporate architect to discuss plans for an office renovation. You grab a napkin and start sketching desktops and conference areas with your pen. Some of the lines don’t show up, and the napkin bunches up and tears, but you’re quite pleased with your rendering–until you catch sight of your architect rolling her eyes.

Same goes for creating or redesigning your company’s website. You can produce a forest of Post-it notes along with crude renderings in an attempt to communicate your point. Or you can employ sophisticated online wireframing tools or software to translate your vision into a website prototype.

A wireframe–a stripped-down visual representation of a web page–helps you identify usability problems and market positioning opportunities early on, before you sink a lot of money into graphic design and programming. Until relatively recently, wireframes were in the sole domain of professional web designers. But today you can find dozens of wireframing tools online (see box), all with a free trial period, that simplify the process.

No real expertise is required to wireframe your site. Use the online tools to convey your ideas of what the site should look like and include. Because you’re not a designer, you’re not aiming for perfection; you’re simply trying to convey a starting point that includes elements you feel are key to…

Continue Reading: The Benefits of Framing Out Your Website